I recently purchased a Deck Legend - ICE PS/2 and I love it! Though I have been wondering about changing it from PS/2 to USB when motherboard manufacturers stop providing a PS/2 port. I already noticed Intel has seemed to stop providing a PS/2 port on their 1156 and 1366 sockets that they produce themselves, and my Asus Sabertooth x58 only has one PS/2 port that does both keyboard and mouse.

So I am wondering, what type of USB cable do I need to use? I saw that Deck sells one on their website, Deck Legend Replacement Cable, is that the one I need? Or will any USB cable work? Like can I take the one out of my old Saitek Eclipse keyboard and use it when I need to finally convert my keyboard to USB?

The cable on the Deck Legend has a PS2 connector on one end and USB on the other. It was made specifically so you do not need to purchase a different cable. In general here are the steps to change to USB from PS2:

1. Remove the 11 screws from the bottom of the keyboard.2. Remove the top half of the plastic housing.3. Unplug the cable and flip the connection around so the USB end is exposed outside of the keyboard.4. Clip the resistor labeled 'Remove for use with USB' on the top left part of the circuit board. This can easily be done with nail clippers or scissors.5. Replace the top housing and screws and you are good to go!

I am considering purchasing one of the 105-key legends, and after spending some time looking around the web I have seen that PS/2 is generally preferable because of key rollover (and potentially other advantages of interrupt versus polling.) However, as the original poster, I realize that many motherboards are coming now without PS/2 slots. I like the flexibility of the Deck to be converted, and my current motherboard supports PS/2.

Given I have little or no experience in dealing with circuitry, and lack simple tools such as a soldering iron (although I could likely borrow one from a friend,) is it preferable to purchase a USB and convert it to PS/2 for my use, or is it easier to purchase the PS/2 and perform the USB conversion if I have a motherboard without PS/2 in the future? This way I buy the right one up front

PS2 to USB is easier - it requires no soldering, just clipping out one resistor which can be done with fingernail clippers at worst.

USB to PS2 requires soldering the resistor back in so slightly more difficult.

I recently bought a laptop that does not have a PS/2 Port and I would like to use my Deck Legend (full keyboard) on it. So, what you're saying is in my case all I would need to do is open up my keyboard and swap the connections around so that it can use USB instead of PS/2? Or will an adapter work on this (in my search on this forum one of the posts said you could use an adapter if you were going from PS/2 to USB but not from USB to PS/2).

I didn't want to start a new thread since I found this one on the first page so I'm sort of necro'ing/hijacking it a bit. I hope you and the OP do not mind.

I've had a Deck Legend for 10 years. It has outlived 4 desktops, 6 moves, and probably logged at least 30,000 hours of use. It still looks pristine. For my latest desktop I went with the ASUS Maximus VI Formula, and only discovered it had no PS/2 ports after I had everything assembled.

I love my Deck so much that I ordered the Sabrant USB to PS/2 adapter, but I noticed it crapping out on me while gaming. The key repeat rate stutters, and some key combinations inconsistently registered. I had thought maybe the Razor Synapse software was interfering with it, but after uninstalling I ruled that out.

This thread was a huge help in explaining the current draw issue, and how to flip the cord around. I didn't even know that was in there. Everything works perfectly now. Here's to another 10 years!

The key repeat rate stutters, and some key combinations inconsistently registered. I had thought maybe the Razor Synapse software was interfering with it, but after uninstalling I ruled that out. 6CH Esky Helicopters